The Houston Texans were able to hold off the Vikings last night 24-28 in the final preseason game of the 2012 season. The Vikings had a late push to take the lead late in the fourth quarter but ultimately fell short failing to convert a fourth down in Texan’s territory. Overall, it was a pretty sloppy game but fun to watch, in my opinion. It was cool to kind of watch a game with no expectations. Not really expecting anyone to come out and perform well. Instead, you just get to watch a bunch of guys putting their hearts and souls on the field in what could be the last time they play in a NFL game.

I’ll be honest – I don’t have tons of notes from yesterday’s game. I’ve been under the weather and wasn’t watching as attentively as I normally do. Nevertheless, here are my thoughts from the fourth and final preseason match-up.

• I had the misfortune of listening to the Texans announcers for the game. They weren’t terrible or anything but something they kept saying irked me. On multiple occasions they announced that, outside of Percy Harvin, the Vikings had no other, I quote, “NFL caliber receivers” on the roster. That’s one heck of a claim to make. Now, I by no means think wide receiver is a definite strength of this team… But really? Only one NFL caliber receiver? Maybe they overlooked Jerome Simpson? But even then, are you really going to make the claim that Michael Jenkins, Devin Aromashodu, Jarius Wright, etc… aren’t NFL caliber receivers? I thought that was quite an ignorant statement to make.
• On that note, I think Jarius Wright finally stepped up and showed that he can be a real weapon for this team sometime in the future. I still think he’s looked just mediocre on punt returns. He hasn’t really shown the burst I thought he had. But he was dangerous last night as a receiver.  Back when we did our introductions for the Vikings 2012 draftees, I noted how I thought Wright could be more than just a dangerous slot receiver. How I thought he had the speed to be one of those guys that could stretch the field and take it to the house. Last night, Wright either backed that belief up or just got lucky on a blown coverage when he caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson. As a fourth round pick, it wasn’t likely he would be released… But after last night’s performance, I’m almost positive he’ll make the final roster. (I would also like to point out that my prediction on how Wright would fit into this offense has been spot on so far. I’m not gloating or anything… I’m just not right that often so I’m pointing out this rare exception.)
• Audie Cole had another good night both on defense and special teams. There is now no doubt in my mind that he should (and will) make this team. He had six tackles last night and just seemed to be always near the ball. He looked like a mad man on special teams and was able to get an additional two tackles there. It will be exciting to see how this young linebacker develops on the Vikings roster.
• I’m not quite sure what you do at quarterback at this point. The Vikings will likely cut one of the four quarterbacks currently on the roster and I’m just not sure who it should be. Joe Webb has the explosiveness and can be a game-changing backup if Ponder goes down during a game. Sage Rosenfels is someone I would rather have as a long-term backup, though. Someone that I think will do better when he’s preparing for a game and the opposition is game planning for our back-up. Rosenfels is older, though, and doesn’t offer any benefit long-term to the Vikings. (Other than providing leadership and instruction to younger quarterbacks, maybe.) McLeod Bethel-Thompson hasn’t looked amazing in preseason games  but he hasn’t looked bad either. He has a strong arm and shows a lot of determination… Who knows how good he could develop to be? It’s going to a be a tough decision for the Vikings front office and I’m glad that I’m not the one making it…
• Running back Jordan Todman stepped up last night and had a huge 76-yard touchdown run. A lot of people think that play alone should guarantee him a spot on the roster and maybe a spot as the third running back on this team. Not me, though. If I’m making the decision for who should be the third running back after everything we’ve seen and heard through the offseason, I’m picking Matt Asiata. He leads the Vikings in rushing for preseason yards and has a very exceptional 5.8 yards per carry. I think his explosiveness, speed, strength and vision have earned him the role. That’s not to say I think Todman should be cut. I’m just saying that if I had to choose between the two right now, it would be Asiata.
• I think it’s obvious that we don’t have a lot of depth on offensive line. So, let’s cross our fingers and hope our starting front-five can stay healthy throughout the year. Regardless of what quarterback was taking snaps last night, the one thing they had in common is fear for their life after hiking the ball. Yes, it looked that bad at times.
• Blair Walsh missed another field goal – that makes one in the last three games. Despite all of them being from 40+ yards, I’m just a tad bit nervous now headed into the regular season. Hoping the misses don’t cause him to lose confidence and affect us negatively throughout the year.
• Cornerback Reggie Jones hurt his stock last night when he dropped a punt return and then was called for holding in the end zone within just a few minutes of one another. It can’t say I’ve seen him perform really good or bad this preseason but it will be interesting to see if he makes the roster.
• It was nice to see Aromashodu step up last night, too. We’ll need him to do the same while Jerome Simpson is suspended for the first three games of the year. Interesting note: Which receiver had the most yards this preseason? Stephen Burton is first with 135 yards on six receptions. Jarius Wright is second with 122 yards from his six receptions last night. And Devin Aromashodu in third place with 117 yards on eight receptions.
• Another interesting note: The Vikings had the third most productive offense this preseason with an average of 370 yards per game. The Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions were first and second, respectively.
• On  more thing: Our defense allowed 320.8 yards per game which ranked 19th in the league this preseason.

Alright, that’s all I got for this game. Overall, I would say we had a pretty decent preseason this year. Like most of you, I absolutely can’t wait for our first real game next weekend against the Jaguars at home. I plan on continuing these types of posts into the regular season with one major difference: I plan on including much more detailed analysis. Once the regular season starts, I will able to see the all-22 (also known as Coach’s tape) film from each game. This will allow me to actually see what players are doing on each play… Something that currently is very difficult with the standard recording.

What did you guys think about the game? Who would you keep on the 53-man roster? Who would you cut and why? Let us know in the comments below. The final roster has to be in tonight so we will be back soon with an update on what the final roster looks like.

I know it’s a little delayed, but here are my notes from Friday’s game against the Chargers. Its tardiness can be attributed to the game blackout that pretty much ruined my Friday night. There’s nothing like getting pumped and prepped for a game and then realizing that you won’t be able to watch it.

I think everyone knows by this point that it wasn’t a very promising game. Yet, the fact remains that it was still just a preseason game. And I’d rather the team make some mistakes and learn from them now rather than be perfect now and make the mistakes later when the games count.

Let’s get this thing started:

• Alright, first things first – let’s begin with the play of quarterback Christian Ponder. There seemed to be quite a bit of doom and gloom after Friday’s game against the Chargers – a lot of concern out there about the way Ponder looked. Maybe some fear cropping back up that he is not the answer at quarterback? I don’t know… Whatever it is, I don’t know that it’s really justified after that game. In my opinion, Ponder didn’t look that bad. His throws were pretty darn accurate for the most part. That long ball to Percy that was dropped right before the goal line? Come on, that was beautiful! While Ponder was sacked five times, are we really going to put that on him? I think the longest he held onto the ball on one of those plays he was sacked was five seconds. The other ones were in the area of three seconds. Sure, he needs to try and get rid of the ball a little sooner but it would also help if you could count on guys like Jenkins and Aromashodu and didn’t have to target either Harvin or Rudolph. Ponder did not have a perfect game by any means… But I really don’t think Ponder was as bad as some people were making him out to be. I still think he has a much better year. I still think we have a much better year.
• It’s pretty awesome having one of the best punters in the league. Kluwe had some beautiful boots Friday night. (It’s worth noting that I thought the coverage was pretty good as well.)
• Overall, I thought our defense looked pretty solid. And rightfully so… Our first teamers were working up against a mix match of Charger’s starters and backups. Only allowing four field goals and no touchdowns after four turnovers? Can’t ask for much more than that.
• Josh Robinson had a nice play where he was covering Malcolm Floyd and was almost able to get a pick again. It’s great to see him covering like that… Sucks to see him not come down with those interceptions, though.
• Toby Gerhart was never really able to get anything going on the ground. I think that can be attributed more to our offensive line working against a 3-4 defense. It seems like the line as a whole was just a little confused the entire night. That’s not a good sign though as I think we have six matchups this season where the opposing team employs that style of defense. (Don’t quote me on that…)
• Was anyone else a little frustrated with the playcalling the first few drives? Brought back some run-run-pass nightmares. I felt like it was one of those things again where we set ourselves up for a difficult third and long.
• More passes through the hands of our wide receivers… Joy.
• Chad Greenway had a missed tackle on a third down that could have easily stopped the Chargers drive and forced them to punt. Disappointing to see but it doesn’t worry me much. Just glad he got that one out of his system before the regular season.
• Has anyone ever seen so many defensive holding calls in a game? There was a weak defensive holding call on Chris Carr that really ended up aiding one ofSan Diego’s drives. That’s all I’ll say about the officiating…
• Where was the intensity on defense? Either people were tired or they were just bored. The defensive unit just seemed out of it Friday night. Anyone else get that?
• Did anyone else notice on the Chargers second drive that our line could not seem to get pressure through on the interior? It was like every snap they tried to run out and around their respective offensive lineman. This ended up basically clearing the line and opening up everything for Whitehurst to see. Throwing lanes galore.
• Took us a while to get a first down, didn’t it? The first one didn’t come until four minutes were left in the first quarter.
• Yes, Kalil was beat by Larry English on a play. I think Kalil has been beat one good time in each of our first three preseason games. Does that concern me? Not at all. Overall, Kalil has been very impressive, in my opinion. He’s been going up against some very capable defensive ends and holding his own. When this guy gets a little more experience – beware. There is still no doubt in my mind that we got a franchise left tackle in Kalil.
• Another preseason missed field goal for Blair Walsh. It was from about 45 yards out and just left of the goal post. The kick had tons of distance and could have easily gone from 55+ (in my very scientific estimations). I’m still not concerned about Walsh at this point. His true test will come in his first game-on-the-line kick in the regular season.
• Gerhart was replaced by Lex Hilliard on a drive where Hilliard got to work with the first teamers. Hilliard fumbled both the ball and potentially his shot to be the third running back on the roster.
• Somebody give Jarius Wright an Oscar. That guy really sold that fake punt reception… And just about got leveled in the process. The penalty was nice, I guess, but I’d rather our guys not get destroyed in exchange for 15 yards.
• If I had to select the third running back for the roster today it would be Matt Asiata. He has shown speed, explosiveness, power and an eye for the hole during preseason matchups. It’s unfortunate that he fumbled right at the goal line Friday night because if he doesn’t, I think he would have been a lock for the spot (in my opinion). Fortunately for him, though, all of the third running back candidates fumbled. The Vikings final preseason game should tell us more as it’s likely Asiata, Jerome Felton and Lex Hilliard will be the only backs getting work. At this point though, I have to lean towards Asiata.